Head coach Daryl Powell was full of praise for his team after they demolished Catalans Dragons to make it seven wins from their last eight games in the Betfred Super League.

Powell had asked for his team to give an 80-minute performance after a number of games in which they have come close to squandering big half-time leads and he got his wish with the Tigers 19-0 up at the break and going on to score another 22 points while also nilling the Dragons.

Michael Shenton links with James Clare in Castleford Tigers' game with Catalans Dragons. Picture: James Hardisty

“We’ve put a lot of focus into wanting to start second halves better,” said Powell. “It’s just about chilling out a little bit and enjoying what we’re doing. I think the players will have enjoyed that performance.

“Defensively we were outstanding. You could see we had a mentality about us that was a little bit different and we maintained that the whole game.

“To not concede any points is a big deal for us, as it is for any rugby league team. That was really pleasing.

“We’re building scores and showing a bit more patience than we perhaps have in the past.

“Both sides of the game we showed a lot of control, which was good.”

Powell was pleased with the way his half-backs controlled the game.

He said: “Luke Gale’s kicking well and him and Benny Roberts are a big part of the control that we’ve got.

“We’re playing a little differently at the moment because of the conditions and also we’ve felt like we’ve needed to adapt.

“The team’s different to last year and we’ve had to adapt a little bit. The guys have done a great job in that regard.

“I’m pleased with the composure we showed and I thought it was an outstanding team performance with a lot of really good efforts from individuals in there.

“That’s the best Benny Roberts has played this season. The balance to his game is good, he’s kicking the ball well and we scored a try off one of his kicks. His running and passing game was good.

“Defensively the right edge was superb, probably led by the way Jake Webster defended. There was an edge of the right side, Joe Wardle started that way and then Mike McMeeken when he came on.”

The middle forwards also came in for praise.

Powell added: “The bench was good. Grant Millington came on and had an impact and I thought Mike McMeeken had a big impact as well off the bench.

“Everybody did. Cooky and Adz Milner played their part as well.

“The pack was going well anyway. Liam Watts played the full first half and when you’ve got an anchor like that you can manoeuvre your team around a little bit. He did a great job.